Sealed refrigeration unit with auxiliary power pulley



Sept. 1, 1959 H. B. PARKER 2,902,205

SEALED REFRIGERATION UNIT WITH AUXILIARY POWER PULLEY Filed Deb; 20, 1956 Harold B. Parker IN VEN TOR.

United States Patent "ice SEALED REFRIGERATION UNIT WITH AUXILIARY POWER PULLEY Harold B. Parker, Loudenville, Ohio, assignor to Parker Refrigeration Development Co., a corporation of Ohio Application December 20, 1956, Serial No. 629,602

2 Claims. (Cl. 230-38) The present invention generally relates to a refrigeration unit and more particularly to a sealed refrigeration unit with certain modifications thereto for providing a power pulley on the drive shaft thereof with the power pulley being disposed exteriorly of the casing of the refrigeration unit for receiving power from an external source which may be used alternatively with the usual electric motor incorporated within the casing of the refrigeration unit thus enabling the unit to be energized from an external source or from the usual electric motor.

An object of the present invention is to provide an extremely compact refrigeration unit which is relatively light in construction and well adapted for installation in restricted areas such as within engine compartments of a truck, automobile, boat, airplane or any other type of vehicle or mobile device whereby the refrigeration unit may be powered from the source of power for the vehicle or mobile device when the vehicle is being operated or from the electric motor provided in the unit by connection to a source of electrical energy when the vehicle is stationary or inoperative thus permitting substantially continuous operation of the refrigeration unit at all times.

The present invention incorporates the modification of a conventional commercially available hermetically sealed refrigeration unit by extending the drive shaft out through the casing. and providing a bearing support and a seal for sealing the shaft in relation to the casing and providing a pulley with a one-way clutch associated therewith whereby the pulley will be locked to the power shaft of the compressor when the pulley is being driven and will idle in relation to the power shaft when the pulley is stationary and the shaft is being driven by the usual electric motor.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawing forming a part thereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view illustrating the present invention installed in the engine compartment of a truck;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the modified hermetically sealed refrigeration unit of the present invention;

Figure 3 is an enlarged detailed and fragmentary sectional View of one end of the refrigeration unit illustrating the details of the modification thereto together with the mounting of the power pulley thereon; and

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 4-4 of Figure 3 illustrating the details of one form of overriding or one-way clutch type pulley.

Referring now specifically to the drawings, the numeral generally designates the refrigeration unit of the invention. The refrigeration unit is shown in one adaptation, that is in the engine compartment of a truck generally designated by the numeral 12 wherein the usual Patented Sept. 1, 1959 internal combustion engine 14 is provided with a power take-off pulley 16 on the forward end of the crank shaft which drives a V-belt 18 for a purpose described hereinafter.

The refrigeration unit 10 includes a generally horizontally disposed casing 20 having an electric motor portion 22 and a compressor portion 24 which is associated with the usual condenser, expansion valve and evaporator of a conventional refrigeration cycle in a manner well known. The specific details of the hermetic unit is unimportant to the present invention and any type of hermetic unit may be employed although a hermetic unit with a horizontal drive shaft 26 is preferable. One type of hermetic unit successfully employed for carrying out the present invention is manufactured by Copeland Refrigeration Corporation of Sidney, Ohio under the name of Copelarnetic. This unit includes a removable end plate 28 having a bearing 30 for the end of the power shaft 26 with the power shaft 26 having a hollow passage 32 for receiving lubricating oil with the passage 32 being communicated with the bearing 30 for lubrication thereof.

A removable plate 34 is provided on the member 28 and this plate 34 has a central opening 36 receiving an extension 38 of the shaft 26. The extension 38 has a V-belt pulley 40 mounted thereon in alignment with the V-belt pulley 16 with the V-belt 18 encircling the same for driving the shaft extension 38 and the power shaft 26.

The pulley 40 includes an inner hub 42 and a pair of side plates 44 attached to the rim portion of the pulley 40 which is designated by numeral 46. Disposed between the inner surface of the rim portion 46 and the hub 42 is a plurality of ball members 48 disposed in cam shaped recesses 50 in the inner surface of rim 46 whereby the ball members 48 will act as a one-way clutch for locking the rim 46 to the extension 38 in one direction of rotation of the pulley 40 and permitting idling of the rim portion 46 when the shaft 26 and extension 38 are driven in the other direction of rotation whereby the V-belt 18 may power the shaft 26 for driving the com pressor portion 24 when no energy is supplied to the electric motor 22. When the electric motor 22 is operated, the balls 48 will ride up into the deep portion of the cam grooves 50 thus permitting the power pulley 40 to idle or remain stationary on the rotating shaft extension 38. Thus, the motor 22 may be operated by attachment to a suitable electrical outlet by employing a conventional male plug (not shown) for insertion into a female outlet when the truck is parked in a garage and when the truck is in operation on the road, the internal combustion engine 14 is employed for driving the compressor portion 24 through pulley 40.

A ball bearing assembly 52 is provided between the plate 28 and the extension 38 and a seal 54 is provided exteriorly of the ball bearing assembly 52. The extension 38 is shown as being provided with a flange 56 held in captivity by the plate 34 and against the seal 54 thereby effectively orientating the shaft extension 38, the seal 54 and the ball bearing assembly 52.

The shaft extension 38 may be made integral with the shaft 26 or may be in the form as illustrated including a pair of longitudinally projecting pins 58 for reception in sockets in the end of the shaft 26. In the practical construction of the invention, the conventional shaft 26 which is provided on the commercial unit is removed and a continuous drive shaft is employed in lieu thereof which has the extension 38 formed integrally thereon thereby forming a continuous power shaft and eliminating the projections 58 and also eliminating the necessity for the flange 56. The conversion of the commercially available unit may be accomplished by employing the special drive shaft together with a bearing and seal kit provided therewith. It is pointed out that any type of bearing may be employed and also any type of seal sufficient for the purposes of sealing the casing 20.

In addition to the foregoing, it is pointed out that the showing of the mechanical one-way type of pulley is intended merely for the purposes of illustration with it being understood that any type of clutch may be incor porated into the pulley 40 which may include various types of commercially available magnetic clutches, mechanical dog type clutches or fluid type clutches any of which may be more desirable in certain installations. It is conceived that the present invention may be employed in conjunction with airplanes for operating refrigeration or air conditioning systems While the planes are in the hanger or loading or unloading area, in small boats for operating refrigeration or air conditioning systems while the boats are tied up at dock, in passenger. automobiles for operation of air conditioning equipment for precooling the automobile prior to driving which would be desirable in extremely hot weather so that a parking lot attendant may have the passenger automo bile cooled when the owner of the vehicle arrives at the parking lot or garage. The unit could be effectively installed in refrigerated delivery trucks and would form an effective refrigeration unit for such installation.

It is desirable that the clutch mechanism associated with the pulley be controlled either manually or thermostatically for enabling the compressor to be rendered inoperative when not needed. Also, the motor may be thermostatically and manually controlled for controlling the operation of the compressor thereby providing ade quate control of the compressor. The clutch incorporated in the pulley will permit the pulley to rotate on the shaft thus substantially eliminating any drag on the engine. This feature will permit the operator to render the compressor inoperative to prevent overheating of the engine such as would occur when a truck is moving slowly in heavy traflic.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. In a refrigeration unit mounted in a mobile vehicle having a combustion engine provided with an accessory power shaft independent of the drive shaft employed for propelling the vehicle, the refrigeration unit being required to operate substantially continuously from an auxiliary power source when the vehicle is inoperative; that improvement which comprises a sealed casing including a compressor and electric motor housed within the casing with the casing conforming in shape and size to the compressor and motor, a power shaft for driving the compressor with the power shaft being driven by the motor when the motor is energized, said casing including a removable end plate having an aperture, said power shaft including an extension portion extending through the aperture, seal means disposed between the shaft and casing for sealing the shaft in relation to the aperture thereby providing a sealed casing, a power pulley mounted on the portion of the power shaft extending exteriorly of the casing, means drivingly connecting the power pulley to the accessory shaft on the combustion engine thereby driving the compressor during all periods of operation of the engine independently of propulsion of the vehicle, a one-way clutch means interconnecting the power pulley and the power shaft for driving the power shaft when the engine is operating, energization of the electric motor by connection with an auxiliary power source driving the power shaft and compressor when the combustion engine is inoperative, said clutch means providing for rotation of the power shaft in relation to the power pulley when the power pulley is held nonrotative by the connecting means between the power pulley and the accessory power shaft when the engine is inoperative, the external confines of the casing being substantially equal to the external confines of the compressor and electric motor for enabling installation in a confined area.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said extension portion of the shaft is separate from the main portion of the shaft, longitudinally extending interengaging pin and recess means detachably and drivingly interconnecting the extension portion of the shaft with the main por tion, said extension portion having a peripheral flange thereon in engagement with the inner surface of the end plate whereby the end plate retains the extension portion from outward longitudinal movement thereby maintaining the interengaging means in interconnected relation.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 19,858 Fehr Feb. 18, 1936 1,167,509 MacDonald Jan. 11, 1916 1,722,284 Fisher July 30, 1929 1,759,766 Szmukler May 20, 1930 1,917,760 Geiger July 11, 1933 2,035,276 Replogle Mar. 24, 1936 2,096,712 Fourness Oct. 26, 1937 2,110,581 Smith Mar. 8, 1938 2,150,276 Gorman Mar. 14, 1939 2,452,807 Thompson Nov. 2, 1948 2,517,367 Winkler Aug. 1, 1950 2,752,088 Borgerd et al June 26, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 44,114 France June 30, 1934 

